EENS 204

Natural Disasters

Fall 2007

Instructor: Dr. Stephen A. Nelson
Office Hours - MWF 1:00 - 4:00 PM,  Room 208, Blessey Hall

e-mail - snelson@tulane.edu         Office Phone 862-3194

Required Textbook: Natural  Disasters 6th Edition by Patrick L. Abbott
Course Grading:  Your grade in this course will be determined on the following percentage distribution:
Midterm Exam 25%
Final Exam 30%
Homework 25%
Disaster Summary 15%
Field Trip 5%
Web Site:
Further course materials, including a copy of this syllabus, all homework assignments, lecture notes, disaster summary information, announcements from the instructor, and useful internet links can be found on the Internet at:  http://www.tulane.edu/~sanelson/geol204/.  Be sure to check this web page regularly throughout the course for important announcements and updates.

Homework and Exams:
The midterm and final exams will be mostly objective in nature with questions coming from the reading material, lectures, and homework assignments. No make-up exams will be given. The Final Exam will be cumulative. Homework assignments consist of exercises designed to help the student gain practical experience in examining information about the occurrence and effects of natural disasters. All homework answers should be typewritten. Due dates are listed in the schedule below.  All homework is due by the end of the class period on the due date.  Due dates and times are firm.  Late assignments will be subject to a 50% penalty and will not be graded in detail.. 

Field Trip
Because part of New Orleans is still a disaster zone, we have an excellent opportunity to observe the effects of a natural disaster first-hand.  In order to help understand the Katrina disaster 5% of your grade will be based on participation on a 4 hour field trip to the disaster area in the first 2 weeks of the course. To receive the 5%, all you need to do is participate in the field trip.  To sign up for a field trip please go to the the web page at http://www.tulane.edu/~sanelson/geol204/fieldtrip.htm  Be sure to follow all links on that page.

Disaster Summary:
Students will be required to find information on major natural disasters that occur during the time period of the course. Information for this summary will be found in newspapers, magazines, and on the internet. On the last day of class, each student will turn in a short summary of the 12 worst disasters that occurred during the course. This summary should include information on the type, details, effects, death/injury toll, and economic impact of each of these 12 disasters. Further information on the disaster summary can be found at http://www.tulane.edu/~sanelson/geol204/disastersummary.htm.

Honor Code:
All students are expected to follow the Tulane Honor Code.  If you are unfamiliar with the Honor Code or have any questions about it, get a copy of the Honor Code from your Dean's office or view it at: http://college.tulane.edu/honorcode.htm.  In short, the Honor Code states that all work turned in for credit must be your own work in your own words, unless clear and explicit acknowledgement of the sources of the work is given.  This does not mean that collaboration on assignments is discouraged.  You may collaborate, just make sure that the work you turn in is in your own words, and not just a copy of the work of your collaborators.

 

Schedule of Lectures and Assignments

Date

Topic

Readings

Aug. 30  Natural Disasters & Assessing Hazards and Risk
Homework Assigned: I. Disaster Info on the Internet
Ch. 1 
Lecture Notes
Sept. 4 Earth Structure, Materials, Systems, and Cycles Ch. 2
Lecture Notes
Sept. 6 Earth Structure, Materials, Systems, and Cycles Ch. 2 & 3
Sept. 11 Earthquakes: Causes and Measurements
Homework I Due
Ch. 4
Sept. 13 Earthquake Hazards and Risks
Homework Assigned: II. Seismological Exercises
Ch. 4 & 6
Sept. 18 Earthquake Prediction and Control Ch. 6
Sept. 20 Earthquake Case Histories Ch 4, & 7
Lect. Notes
Sept. 25 Tsunami Ch. 5
Sept. 27 Volcanoes, Magma, and Volcanic Eruptions
Homework II Due
Homework Assigned: III. Volcanological Exercises
Ch. 8
Oct. 2 Volcanic Landforms, Volcanoes and Plate Tectonics Ch. 8 &  9
Oct. 4 Volcanic Hazards, Beneficial Aspects, and Predicting Eruptions Ch. 9
Oct. 9 Volcanic Case Histories
Homework III Due
Ch. 9
Lect. Notes
Oct. 11 Volcanic Case Histories
 
Ch. 9 
Lect. Notes
Oct. 16 Midterm Exam  
Oct. 18 Mass Wasting and Mass-Wasting Process
Homework Assigned: IV. Mass Wasting Exercises
Ch. `0
Oct. 23 Slope Stability, Triggering Events, Mass Wasting Hazards Ch. 10
Oct. 25 Subsidence: Dissolution & Human Related Causes Ch. 10
Lect. Notes
Oct. 30 The Ocean-Atmosphere System
Homework IV Due
Ch. 11
Nov. 1 Thunderstorms & Tornadoes
Homework Assigned: V. Weather Exercises
Ch. 12
Nov. 6 Tropical Cyclones Ch. 13
Nov. 8 Tropical Cyclones Ch. 13
Nov. 13 Tropical Cyclones
 
Ch. 13
Nov. 15 Coastal Zones
Homework V Due
Homework Assigned: VI. Flooding Exercises
Ch. 13
Nov. 20 River Systems & Causes of Flooding
 
Ch. 14
Nov. 22 Thanksgiving Holiday  
Nov. 27 River Flooding Ch. 14
Nov. 29 Flooding Hazards, Prediction and Human Intervention Ch. 14
Dec. 4 Meteorites & Impacting Events
Homework VI Due
Ch. 17
Dec. 6 Meteorites & Impacting Events
Disaster Summary Due
Ch. 17
Dec. 15 FINAL EXAMINATION 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM  

Obtain a PDF version of the Syllabus

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